Thursday, August 28, 2014

Pick Me | Review and Giveaway of Freshly Picked Moccasins for Children

(In accordance with FTC Guidelines, I am required to disclose that we (FiFi Ruffles) received product in lieu of payment for the review and hosted Giveaway. The opinions expressed below are that of my own)


Unless you have been living under a rock or don't have young children, by now you should have heard of Freshly Picked?! It is THE hottest Children's Moccasin Company {at least in my opinion}. I'd even venture to say- the HOTTEST Kids shoe company right now-period. Perhaps I am biased!


As a regular IG'er (Instagram) I see these darling little moccs EVERYWHERE! It's no surprise, I recently learned that this very popular mobile app helped boost this company into the stratosphere! They have a following to kill for, really, over 200K followers! Their numbers say it all!

In the past couple months, the CEO, Susan,  was featured on The Shark Tank. This is how I learned a lot about the company. You just have read about their story or view their episode (fwd to 32.31). Just imagine, a company starting over salvaged windows and growing to this!







Until recently I was not aware that Freshly Picked made some toddler sizes. Well, when I saw that on there website I knew I HAD to have a pair for FiFi! We received out first pair a few days ago to review and host this Giveaway. I wasn't really sure what to expect...I tend to NOT go with the flow and what's in so I was a little apprehensive.

As we opened the box, I made sure FiFi was sitting next to me, she started getting very excited, wanting me to tare them open. WHY? The shoes come in basic, non descript brown box. As you open them, you notice black printed words on the insides of the flap;  garden tools, fruits, veggies and more. We continue to open the box, on top is the signature off white bag, inside are the Gold Moccs (eeek)..I put them aside before opening the bag to see what the else the little treasure box was hiding! At the bottom were the most adorable gardening stickers. Yep, I'm a little slow sometimes!   What a sweet idea tho! I explained to Sophia that we have a little project to do later! And yes, we will be sharing!

Now onto the Moccs. Mind you, the entire time she is trying to swipe the bag holding the moccs in Swiper fashion {swiper no swiping!)! To be honest, she was little perplexed about what we were opening. Finally I left her open the bag. She has never owned a pair of moccs and was not quite sure what they were but started squealing in delight because she knew I was excited, wide eyed and saying "oh sparkly" pretending not to notice the bag. We have many nic names for Her, one of them is "Bag Lady". She is obsessed any kind of bag and will put anything she can find in them. It's not uncommon to see 4 or 5 of them in the livingroom full of play food and such (most often something of mine I didn't notice she swiped!). So, really, if you add it all up, the box contained 4 items our daughter loves; stickers, craft project with said stickers, bag, shoes. This box packs some punch!! Genius packaging/marketing I might say!



She tried them on an she walked like a dog with slippers on {you can see that image in your head now, right?} She is quite klutzy and has pretty big feet for a little 3 year old (size 10 Moccs.). I was not surprised in her little show..lol. The real test was walking on the tile floor. Most Floridian's have tile floors, which I love, but cause injuries for klutzy non skid sock wearing kiddos. She DIDN'T slip. Yep, I'm sold!


On to the real test. We decided to explore local alley ways in our downtown Art District. A new friend of mine is an artist {Jennifer Kosharek | Kosharek Art} that, she and other locals {Chad Mize / Blue Lucy}, had painted Murals in the alley ways of the 600 block in St Pete. Perfect time to explore. After all, the alleys are made of uneven brick and pavers, random rocks and slippery old leaves.


As you can see, they(shoes) were perfect for the occasion. She did not complain once that her feet hurt or were slippery. She probably thanked me a few times for getting her the shoes {she is very polite--I hope that sticks;P)


I see these little Moccasins getting plenty of use! They are so versatile and compliment casual or more formal attire. Dress 'em up or down ;)



Styling Credits;

Shoes: Freshly Picked | Gold Moccasins

Skirt: FiFi Ruffles | Gilded Flight Circle Skirt

Scarf: FiFi Ruffles  | Slately Gold Infinity Scarf

Headband: Birdie Baby Boutique | Tribe Vibe

Top: Target 

Now for the Giveaway! The giveaway is running for one week. 8/28 7:30pm est thru 9/4 11:59pm est. The winner will be announced 2-3 business days later (depending on the volume of entries)

Please be sure to read the terms and conditions before entering. If you have won a pair of Freshly Picked Moccs. in the past 12 months you are not eligible. Remember, the more entries you make, the better chance you have;)
a Rafflecopter giveaway



Thursday, March 20, 2014

For the Love of the Mouse!



Recently I read a post on Facebook Business Page asking their fans what sort of fashion you are
 
"diggin'" now, as taste and fashion changes so fast & frequent. I chuckled to myself
 
because that very topic has been gnawing at me lately. I'm sure you may have noticed, I don't
 
really favor one style. There are so many I like to experiment with. In there lies my concern,
 
does my eclectic taste confuse my followers? Perhaps, time will tell I suppose! Let's clarify
 
before I move on, my style is NULL, I am referring to my Daughter's style that it! If you want to
 
read about mine, read this post by mylifesuckers, I think she stole my wardrobe!
 

I do know I have never been a fan of any type of main stream children's characters on
 
clothing...nope, not all. My sons were born in the 90's, and with the birth of the first child he did
 
sport quite a bit of Mickey Mouse One Pieces and such. But really, after he out grew them
 
as an infant,  I was none too happy to be out of that fashion phase! If my boys were wearing 
 
a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle T-shirt or Sesame Street Sweatshirt, I can almost guarantee  a
 
grandparent, Aunt or Uncle bought it for them.  I can't explain, I just DONT like it unless it's a
 
tastefully done applique for special occasion of sorts. I know, did I just commit social suicide for
 
admitting that (I think this secretly mortifies my Mother as well)?! Now, be kind, no hate mail
 
please;) I'll let you in on a little secret though, we do let FiFi wear jammies in whatever she
 
wants! Read on, trust me, I will make my point soon!


Do you remember that sweet little heart cutout dress that went viral last year?


 
 
 
 
A girlfriend of mine over at Sew Sly Designs bought up the pattern and created these adorable
 
dresses. How cute is this photo by Photography by Ashlynn!! It just captures the sweetness of
 
little girls and there contagious energy! The cute little brunette there is no stranger to this blog.
 
Yes, she is the sassy little girl that walked in the SPFW event for us in 2012.
 

I fell in love with the dress along with everyone else! As a fan of the talented miss Shannon
 
Cook of the blog Luvinginthemommyhood, I was ecstatic to see she was offering dress patterns
 
and WOW did she knock this one out of the park! Not only is it the classic (fully lined bodice and
 
full skirt) design that is my more favorite of all, it allows you to celebrate a little bit of whimsy,
 
yet staying classy at the same time. I know, are you thinking, "they are just kids"? Yes, they
 
are, however I think we should embrace the classic MODEST style when we can with little ladies
 
(when the opportunity arises)!
 

The talented lady behind Sew Sly and I were chatting a few months later about the dress.
 
We discovered we both had the same great idea, let's try it with a Mouse Head! (Hint, hint, h
 
here's my point) I was shocked in myself that I wanted to make such thing. Yes, I love Disney, I
 
do, I do, but to design a dress around it, not my style whatsoever....once again, FiFi's love of
 
the Mouse was infectious, I wanted to do this for her, I just had too! Did I mention she asks to
 
go to Disney every single day for about two months now?!
 

After several pattern attempts and a couple prototype samples I have figured it out! Geesh, I
 
really need learn pattern design, I'm sure winging it was not the most efficient! Sounds simple
 
though, right? Just take the existing pattern I've used over and over (Mermaid Dress) and add a
 
silhouette. Ha, ha, joke was on me.
 

The dress was a little big on her, I assumed we could size up as she is another year older,
 
however the little bean pole apparently has not grown since the last dress I made! Anyhow,
 
without further ado, here is FiFi showing off her


Mouse Party Dress



 
 
 





 
 
 
A big Thanks to the one and only Amy Smith of Spark Babies Photography for the beautiful
 
 photographs! Feel free to visit her Facebook page and let her know you loved the photos!
 
 
 
Spark
 
 
Dress Notes;
*A snap at the top will be added to keep the dress inline.
 
Dress can be purchased/preordered HERE
 
Be sure to check out our NEW website, along with the fabulous steals in the clearance Section!
 
 
 
For a all of you Disney Lovers, Here are a couple of sites you may appreciate!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Lastly, but not least, Trekaroo is hosting a Giveaway for a Disney Trip in Florida & California!
 
We've entered, so should you! Enter HERE
 
 
*In no way is FiFi Ruffles Affiliated with this Giveaway-we're just sharing the knowledge!